Sean Kuraly’s 1st NHL goal lifts Bruins over Golden Knights 2-1

BOSTON (AP) — Sean Kuraly scored his first career goal to snap a tie midway through the third period, sending the Boston Bruins to a 2-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night.

Kuraly got to a rebound during a scrum in front of the Vegas net after a shot by Torey Krug with 10:07 left, restoring Boston’s lead and helping the Bruins to avoid being swept by the expansion Golden Knights in their inaugural season. It was the second assist of the night for Krug, who helped set up Reilly Nash’s goal early in the second for Boston, which was coming off consecutive losses in overtime and a shootout.

Cody Eakin scored for Vegas, which fell to 0-3 on a six-game road trip out East.

Maxime Lagace, making his second NHL start, had 26 saves for the Golden Knights, who beat Boston 3-1 on Oct. 15 in the first meeting between the expansion club and the Original Six franchise.

Tuukka Rask stopped 27 shots for the Bruins in a game with few offensive chances. Rask faced just eight shots in the first period, which was three more than Boston managed in the opening 20 minutes.

Nash broke the scoreless tie when he poked a rebound past Lagace 3:24 into the second period. Nash got a shot off a few seconds earlier that hit the far post and bounced to Austin Czarnik, who put it right back on Lagace and the rebound went right back to Nash for his first goal of the season.

Eakin evened the score 9:34 into the second on a one-timer off a pass from Nate Schmidt, who intercepted a clearing attempt in the Boston zone and set up Eakin at the right circle.

NOTES: The Bruins held a moment of silence before the national anthem in memory of the victims of Tuesday’s attack on a bike path in New York City. … Boston placed forward David Backes on injured reserve, and he was scheduled for surgery to remove a portion of his colon. Backes, picked up from St. Louis in the offseason, has been bothered by diverticulitis and has played only five games for Boston so far. … The Bruins recalled Czarnik from Providence of the AHL to fill Backes’ roster spot. … G Zane McIntyre, recalled from Providence on Wednesday because of a lower-body injury to Anton Khudobin, was Rask’s backup.